WITH me, what you see is what you get. It is one of my biggest weaknesses that in turn I take other people at face value.
I don’t seek ulterior motives, and I always try to see the best in others. I trust that people say what they mean, and mean what they say.
It was only a few weeks ago that Theresa May stated to our First Minister that all the energies of parliament and government “should be focussed on the negotiations with the European Union about our future relationship”.
I disagreed with this, but I believed that she was setting out her case plainly and honestly. I thought that she meant what she said.
It’s clear to me that Theresa May wasn’t telling the truth. It should be crystal clear to us all that this is yet another Tory party leader who simply cannot be trusted.
When she said on her election as party leader last July that she would wait until 2020 for a General Election she misled the public. She’s also clearly disregarded her own statement to the BBC last September when she announced to Andrew Marr that “I’m not going to be calling a snap election”.
And when her official spokesperson stated on her behalf as recently as March 20 that she was clear that “there isn’t going to be an early general election and the Prime Minister is getting on with delivering the will of the British people” the Prime Minister was clearly being economical with the truth.
Given this record of deception, how can we now believe a single thing Theresa May says?
The recent actions of Nicola Sturgeon have stood in sharp contrast to these weasel words.
When our First Minister wrote in the SNP’s manifesto for the Holyrood election last year that people in Scotland would get an opportunity for a fresh vote on independence “if there is a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will”, she could not have been clearer about our party’s intentions. Whether they agreed with the point or not, voters believed that she would keep her promise. This is absolutely what she’s done.
If the Parliament at Westminster votes today to call an early election, it will lay bare the choice facing voters in Scotland on June 8. We can either vote for a party led by a woman who keeps her promises, or one led by someone who has a record of systematically breaking theirs.
Given this unambiguous record, who can you trust? Nicola Sturgeon or Theresa May?
Who can believe Theresa May any more when she says that she’ll look out for people who are “just about managing”?
When she talks about fairness in our social security system, how can we take her seriously?
And when she says that she can deliver a good deal for the UK in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations, does she really believe it?
Her word is mud, and the tragedy is that she has rubbished her own reputation for nothing more than partisan political gain. With Corbyn unfit to lead and the Labour Party in meltdown, it’s clear that there is no effective opposition or alternative to voters in England and Wales. The plan is to give the Tories a free run at Westminster, unfettered by any opposition south of the border.
This reckless and heartless Tory leader sees a snap general election as an opportunity to impose even deeper cuts and entrench her increasingly right-wing agenda, while at the same time forcing through a hard Brexit. All of these are absolutely against the best interests of everyone who lives and works here in Scotland.
It’s now up to voters here to decide whether they want to be cast adrift, isolated from our European allies with a hard-right Tory party at the helm, or whether they want to remain as part of Europe’s progressive mainstream with the SNP.
We need to decide whether we want to be able to trust our political leaders to keep their promises, or whether the truth should be an afterthought to political expediency.
With this reckless act, Theresa May has shown her true colours. It’s now more than likely that voters here will get to pass their own judgement at the ballot box in June.
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